Retail News CRM

Tag: Finance

  • UBS Plans to Up Pay for Junior Bankers and Directors

    UBS Plans to Up Pay for Junior Bankers and Directors

    UBS Group is reportedly planning to raise the salaries of global banking analysts, associates, and directors, marking the latest global bank to increase pay for talent.

    In their first year, analysts will earn about $100,000 annually, according to a «Reuters» report citing unnamed sources, followed by $105,000 in the second year and $110,000 in the third year.

    Associates will earn $175,000 to $225,000 and directors will make around $275,000.

    The salaries increases will come into effect from August 1, the report added.

    UBS is the latest global bank to increase salaries in order to attract and retain talent, particularly for non-senior positions.

    This follows similar moves by Wall Street banks to incentivize younger financial workers, particularly after first-year analysts at Goldman Sachs complained about a gruesome work-life of long hours and cutthroat deadlines in an internal survey leaked earlier this year.

    Lees ook:

  • UBS Reports Strong Second Quarter Performance

    UBS Reports Strong Second Quarter Performance

    Swiss bank UBS reports second-quarter 2021 net profit attributable to shareholders of $2 billion, up 66 percent from a year earlier.

    Operating Income was up 21 percent while expenses rose 10 percent, helping the cost/income ratio to fall 4.1 percentage points year-on-year. The bank saw continued momentum in investment flows and volume growth in conjunction with favorable market conditions and investor sentiment, according to a media release on Tuesday.

    Invested assets in Global Wealth Management (GWM) and Asset Management rose 4.4 percent from the first quarter to $4.4 trillion, with GWM recorded $25 billion in net new fee-generating assets. The group reported $0.55 diluted earnings per share and a 14.5 percent CET1 ratio.

    UBS chief executive Ralph Hamers provided commented: «Momentum is on our side and our strategic choices and initiatives are paying off. And we are eager to make the most of our future.

    Lees ook:

  • Big Gap Opens Up Between UBS, Credit Suisse

    Big Gap Opens Up Between UBS, Credit Suisse

    A big gap has opened up not only between UBS and Credit Suisse’s share prices but also between expectations for their second-quarter earnings.

    Ahead of the publication of their second-quarter results there really is no comparison. Looking at the share prices of the two big Swiss banks, UBS, whose results are due out on Tuesday, has risen just under 10 percent since the beginning of the year; and the bank is by no means one of the star performers on the Swiss stock exchange.

    However, you would have to look long and hard to find a worse performer than Credit Suisse, whose results are set to be published on July 29. Its shares have dropped 27 percent over the same period.

    Credit Suisse was in a world of pain in the second quarter. There is a great deal of uncertainty about its medium-term future after it lost billions in the collapse of Archegos Capital and no end in sight to the flood of employees heading for the exit at its investment bank. The lack of clarity about its prospects of recouping all the money from the Greensill funds is a source of disaffection to both staff and those asset management and private banking clients affected.

    Its battered reputation makes if difficult for Credit Suisse to acquire new clients and funds. The investigations into the Greensill and Archegos debacles by and the instruction from Swiss financial watchdog Finma only to do low-risk business are complicating its operations.

    Compared with UBS and the competition across the Atlantic, Credit Suisse is wrestling with both new and legacy problems at the worst possible moment.

    Credit Suisse is in danger of sliding into a completely different league to UBS. This is despite 800 million Swiss francs ($873 million) of UBS’ money going down the drain when Archegos collapsed.

    As far as banks with which Credit Suisse likes to compare itself such as Goldman Sachs or J.P. Morgan go, this has already happened.

    Last week, Goldman Sachs reported a second-quarter profit of $5.5 billion, J.P. Morgan made almost $12 billion. This was down to a U.S. economy going full steam ahead, strong results from their investment banks as well as mergers and acquisitions activity.

    The second-quarter forecasts for Credit Suisse are a tiny fraction of that.

    The consensus estimate is for a pre-tax profit of just over 840 million francs and a net profit of just over 330 million francs. The one-off effect of a further loss of 600 million francs due to Archegos is expected to weigh on the second-quarter numbers.

    Credit Suisse was still a money-making machine in the first quarter – apart from the debacles which cost billions – especially the investment bank, but the forecasts for the second quarter are very different indeed. Analysts are predicting revenues of around 1.75 billion francs offset by expenses of around 1.7 billion francs. The investment bank is expected to post a loss in the second quarter.

    Expectations for the wealth management business and client acquisition are also very subdued. A cash outflow is expected in Asset Management and an increase of around 3 billion francs across all units.

    The expectations for UBS are nothing to write home about but much better. The consensus forecast is for a second-quarter profit of just over $1.3 billion, significantly less than in the first quarter but still higher year on year.

    In its core business of Global Wealth Management, significantly less volatile markets hit client activity. Revenues will be significantly lower than in the first quarter. The focus will therefore be on implementing the cost-cutting program. The aim is to save $1 billion by 2023. However, there are likely to have been restructuring costs of around $300 million in the second quarter.

    The big gap between UBS and Credit Suisse not only lies in their share prices and results but also in the base from which they are starting, which has changed yet again since the spring.

    While UBS is pursuing a strategy for the future under its new CEO Ralph Hamers and has the means and capacity to invest in a technological transformation, Credit Suisse is dealing with its past. It has to resolve legacy issues that affect its corporate culture and, more specifically, the shortcomings in risk management.

    New Chairman António Horta-Osório has made it clear that this will take time and that no decisions on changes to the bank’s strategy are expected before the end of the year. In other words, UBS is building its future, something Credit Suisse can only dream of.

    Lees ook:

  • StanChart Names Global Head of Transaction Banking FX

    StanChart Names Global Head of Transaction Banking FX

    Standard Chartered appoints its global head of transaction banking FX to further collaboration between transaction banking and markets.

    Jocelyn Tan has been named to the Singapore-based role, according to a report by efinancialcareers, which noted that she was an internal appointee though the role was advertised externally.

    Tan will be tasked with driving FX cross-selling by leveraging transaction banking flows across the corporate, commercial and institutional bank (CCIB).

    Tan has been with Standard Chartered since 2017 when she joined as an executive director for e-commerce sales. Previously, she spent over 10 years with Citi where she worked in Asian eFX sales.

  • HSBC Snags UBS Investment Management Specialist

    HSBC Snags UBS Investment Management Specialist

    He will lead HSBC’s investments and wealth solutions team in Asia, which covers global private banking and wealth and personal banking.

    HSBC has appointed Stefan Lecher as regional head of investments and wealth solutions (IWS), Asia Pacific, with effect from 3 October 2021, according to an announcement on Thursday. He will be based in Hong Kong, reporting to Lavanya Chari, global head IWS.

    Lecher joins from UBS, where he has held a number of senior roles in global wealth management and asset management over the past 17 years, most recently as APAC head CIO for global investment management.

    HSBC said the appointment is key to its Asia wealth strategy, which targets becoming a leading wealth manager in the next five years, with $3.5 billion in investment.

  • 16 banks to lower loan interests amid Covid-19

    16 banks to lower loan interests amid Covid-19

    Sixteen commercial banks have agreed to reduce interests on existing loans of Covid-hit businesses from now until the end of the year.

    The banks include Vietcombank, Vietinbank, BIDV, Agribank, Techcombank, MB, VPBank, TPBank and Sacombank.

    Lowering interests is difficult, but this is the time when banks need to share the burden with businesses, said Nguyen Quoc Hung, general secretary of Vietnam Banks Association, at a meeting Monday.

    Agribank is committed to lowering its interests by one percentage point on average, while MB will do so for at least one percentage point.

    Sacombank will seek shareholder permission as lowering the interest by one percentage point is equivalent to 40 percent of its profit target for the year. Some other banks will do the same.

    But not all businesses will be eligible for the reduction. Bank leaders said they would focus on companies truly hurt by the pandemic

    “Real estate companies with large profits, export firms or individuals borrowing money to buy cars should not be eligible for the reduction,” said Deputy Director of Techcombank Pham Quang Thang.

    He added companies that are essential to the economy with a large workforce should be eligible.

    Lees ook:

  • Citi Private Bank Hires Global Market Head for China

    Citi Private Bank Hires Global Market Head for China

    Citi Private Bank has named a new global market head for China-based in Singapore.

    Lillian Liao joins Citi Private Bank as a managing director and global market head, China, sources said, reporting to North Asia head of private banking Rudolf Hitsch. A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment.

    Liao joins from Credit Suisse where she spent nearly 13 years last as a managing director and senior client partner.

    Citi Private Bank continues to bolster senior talent in the region following a reorganization that saw it merge retail, wealth management and private banking into a single unit – Citi Global Wealth (CGW). Citi Private Bank’s APAC head Steven Lo was named as co-head of the CGW unit in the region.

    Last month, the American private bank added ex-UBP wealth planner Faye Ong as head of the family office advisory, private capital group.

    And in May, it appointed 30-year Citi banker Lee Lung Nien as South Asia head of private banking.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • StanChart Names Chief Information Officer for Retail Banking

    StanChart Names Chief Information Officer for Retail Banking

    She takes over Paul Macpherson, Chief Information Officer, CPBB since 2018, who will be leaving to pursue opportunities outside the bank.

    Standard Chartered has appointed Anshu Sharma Raja as chief information officer, Consumer, Private & Business Banking (CPBB), the bank announced on Friday.

    Raja joined the bank in 2018 as managing director, global head of Retail Banking Technology and head of Global Business Services and Technology & Innovation Centers, based in Bengaluru, India. She previously worked for Vodaphone, AIG, Goldman Sachs, and consulted with investment banks for technology solutions, according to her LinkedIn profile.

    Raja is based in Singapore and reports to Michael Gorriz, group chief information officer.

    Our ambitious growth plans for our affluent, mass and wealth management business rely on a modern, cloud-based architecture that delivers superior client products and experiences digitally, Gorriz said in the announcement.

    Lees ook:

  • VietinBank pre-tax H1 profits up 75 pct

    VietinBank pre-tax H1 profits up 75 pct

    State-owned lender VietinBank has recorded pre-tax profits of VND13 trillion ($565.2 million) in the first six months of 2021, a year-on-year increase of 75 percent.

    Its ratio of non-performing loans at the end of Q2 was 1.38 percent, chairman Le Duc Tho said, adding that the targeted non-performing loans ratio for this year was 1-1.2 percent

    The bank’s total assets value at the end of June was VND1.4 quadrillion ($60.8 billion), while its loans outstanding were VND1.06 quadrillion, according to its CEO Tran Binh Minh.

    Capital mobilization as of June reached VND1.2 quadrillion, up 3.4 percent year-on-year.

    The bank plans to increase its charter capital by 29 percent to over VND48 trillion this year by paying dividends in shares.

  • HSBC Names Malaysia Head of Wealth and Personal Banking

    HSBC Names Malaysia Head of Wealth and Personal Banking

    HSBC has appointed a successor for the role of wealth and personal banking head in Malaysia after it was left vacant for three months.

    HSBC named Renee Bullock-Cann as head of wealth and personal banking (WPB) in Malaysia, according to a statement, succeeding Tara Latini who was named head of WPB in the U.S. in April.

    Bullock-Cann reports to HSBC Malaysia chief executive Stuart Milne and APAC regional head of wealth and personal banking Greg Hinston.

    Bullock-Cann was most recently the head of distribution for WPB in Malaysia after relocating to the country in 2019. Previously, she was head of WPB for HSBC Bermuda.

    According to HSBC, Malaysia is a priority market for the bank which has made various investments including $18 million from 2018 to 2020 to improve branches and client experience; $40 million from 2021 to 2023 to add tech capabilities to branches; the creation of 200 new roles; and the roll-out of various digital services.

    Our ambition is simple: we want to be the bank that Malaysians turn to for their international needs, Milne said.

    We will leverage our unparalleled international network, enhance our range of wealth solutions and focus on building our digital capabilities including our mobile functionality, our in-branch technology, and our people’s digital skills.

  • Singapore Leads Banking-as-a-Service Adoption

    Singapore Leads Banking-as-a-Service Adoption

    Almost half (47 percent) of all financial institutions in the republic have invested in banking-as-a-service in the last year, and 45 percent are looking to do so in the next 12 months, according to a new survey by Finastra.

    Financial institutions (FIs) in Singapore are among the most confident in BaaS globally, with 87 percent saying they expect to see benefits in the coming year, Finastra said in its Financial Service State of the Nation Survey 2021, published on Tuesday.

    At the same time, 97 percent said open banking is important to their business, with 56 percent calling it a must-have and highlighting its ability to deliver new services.

    Hong Kong FIs are also some of the most optimistic towards BaaS, with 42 percent deploying or improving BaaS in the last 12 months and 92 percent expecting to see positive impacts from BaaS and embedded banking (89 percent) in the next 12 months.

    Covid-19 Boost

    Singapore financial institutions had the largest increase in digital banking investment (25 percent) in response to COVID-19 among markets surveyed, and the highest proportion of respondents globally saying their bank increased overall investment/budgets in response to the pandemic (84 percent).

    The study was conducted in March 2021 among 785 professionals at financial institutions and banks in France, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, the U.A.E., U.K. and U.S.

  • Fintech startup gets $2 mln seed funding from global investors

    Fintech startup gets $2 mln seed funding from global investors

    Vietnamese fintech startup Infina has raised $2 million in seed funding from five global venture capitalists.

    The investors are Japan’s Saison Capital, Indonesia’s Venturra Discovery, Singapore’s 1982 Ventures, the U.S.’s 500 Startups, and Korea’s Nextrans.

    Some Google and Netflix executives are also taking part in this round.

    The startup has developed an investment app called Infina that enables users to make term deposits, invest in certificates of deposit and exchange traded funds. Most users are between the ages of 25 to 40 and looking for alternatives to investing in long-term asset classes like real estate.

    The seed funding will be used to increase the number of users and diversify the investment portfolio, and hire experts to analyze customers’ risk preferences.

    It plans to expand into other countries in future, but for the time being is focused on the Vietnamese market.

    The company said that around 500,000 securities trading accounts were opened in the first five months of 2021, a 20 percent year-on-year increase, according to the Vietnam Securities Depository.

    This along with Vietnam’s high Internet penetration rate, which was at around 70 percent as of January, and the fact that more than three-fourths of Internet users have used online financial services before, enable apps like Infina to gain traction.

    Infina was launched in January 2021 by James Vuong, who used to be an engineer in the U.S.’s Silicon Valley before returning to Vietnam to serve as vice president of investment at Vietnam’s first venture capital fund IDG Ventures.

    Vuong said many Internet users began using digital services, including for investments, with the interest rate cuts by the central bank to help businesses cope with Covid-19 prompting many investors to look for alternatives with higher returns than bank deposits.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • China Bond Bankers Flee HSBC

    China Bond Bankers Flee HSBC

    HSBC has reportedly lost four bankers in its debt capital markets team covering Chinese state-owned enterprises as the business faces pressure from the Huawei incident and stressed relations with the U.K.

    Managing directors John Hai and Jiang Song have left HSBC in recent weeks, according to a report citing unnamed sources, with plans to join competing firms after more than a decade with the British lender.

    Hai and Jiang led client coverage of Chinese investment-grade issuers including state-owned enterprises (SOE).

    Two other bankers on HSBC’s China investment grade team have also left.

    The Chinese investment-grade bond team has 12 employees and the overall debt capital market (DCM) unit has about 20.

    According to the sources, HSBC has been missing out on dollar bond deals from Chinese SOE clients following the U.S. probe of Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.

    Dealmaking was also affected by U.K.-China tensions over political freedoms in Hong Kong.

    Despite the headwinds, HSBC continues to concentrate resources in Asia with reduction or exits from unprofitable operations in the U.S. and Europe.

    In addition to the transferal of three of HSBC’s most senior executives from London to Hong Kong, the bank has also made managing director-leveled hires in global co-head of capital financing Matthew Ginsburg and head of consumer and retail Heidi Chan.

    We continue to invest in our mainland China business – both onshore and offshore – and have seen recent strong momentum for our China DCM business, particularly in [the] public sector, FIG and high yield, said an HSBC spokesperson. As the leading foreign bank in mainland China, we are proud of our track record, and confident and optimistic about our ability to serve the financial and banking needs of our Chinese clients.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Bank of Singapore Loses Market Head

    Bank of Singapore Loses Market Head

    Bank of Singapore has lost an industry veteran and market head for Greater China, sources said.

    Greater China market head Richard Hu has left Bank of Singapore, sources said, after joining in the role two years ago.

    Hu is an industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in the region. He previously held multiple senior roles covering Greater China markets with Julius Baer, HSBC Private Bank, Credit Suisse, UBS, and Citi Private Bank.

    A spokesperson for the bank confirmed the exit. Although Bank of Singapore continues to be in hiring mode – it recently welcomed ex-UBS head of wealth planning for Singapore Paul Chua – it has also seen an outflow of executives in 2021.

    Earlier this month, we reported the departure of its head of Russia and Eastern Europe Vadim Bondarev.

    Several rival banks have been beneficiaries from recent exits such as RBC Wealth Management which named Vincent Cheng as a Hong Kong-based relationship manager and Credit Suisse which hired Rohit Narayanan to cover the India market. And In Janaury, Suresh Nair joined Standard Chartered Private Bank as a senior client partner.

  • UOB Taps Digital Innovation to Grow Wealth Franchise

    UOB Taps Digital Innovation to Grow Wealth Franchise

    The bank aims to double its wealth fee income by 2026, which translates to a compound annual growth rate of over 15 percent over the next five years.

    UOB is hoping get more of its customers to kickstart their investment journey by expanding its digital wealth offerings and investing in digital innovation, particularly as customers in the region are increasingly affluent but still underserved.

    On Thursday, the bank launched «SimpleInvest» on its UOB Mighty app, which aims to help customers grow their wealth via Liquidity, Income or Growth solutions that places their funds in either UOB Asset Management’s United SGD Money Market Fund, or a basket of actively managed funds by renowned international asset managers such as Allianz, Fidelity International, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Schroders and UBS Asset Management.

    The digital self-serve solution was developed to lower the barriers first-time investors encounter when starting their investment journey, Jacquelyn Tan, UOB’s group head of personal financial services, said at a media launch.

    According to the bank’s, many of its customers who are new to investing think it is difficult and require significant sums, or do not have the knowledge or confidence to do.

    The bank is also hoping that the personalization of wealth management for each customer, such as by providing them information and insights that are relevant to their needs and lifestyle choices, based on their banking patterns, will enable them to have the confidence they need to make wiser financial decisions.

    To reach its wealth management targets, UOB will be investing S$200 million ($148.74 million) in digital innovation over the next three years.

    It will also be progressively rolling out its suite of digital wealth solutions across the region, and targets one in four of its customers across the region to tap on its digital wealth solutions.